And Angels Sang the Song of Wind
by SirenBleedsInsanity
Summary: Shana kicks major bum, Dart's and abusive drunk, and yeah. I'm still alive, if you guys remember me. This isn't too great, but I wrote it really fast. R&R, kay?


And Angels Sang the  
Song of Wind  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
What if all these fantasies  
Come flailing around  
Now I've said too much  
I thought that I heard you laughing  
I thought that I heard you sing  
I think I thought I saw you try  
But that was just a dream  
That was just a dream  
  
~REM  
  
And as your tears escape your soul  
As sure as there comes rain  
Your chastity will show you how  
To chase away the pain  
  
~Me...yes, I realize it's lame, but oh well!  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
She was, quite frankly, a little freaked out. It wasn't the pressure, the danger, the fact that she may very well *die*, so much as the rotting forest's aura. Evil, blood lusting, murderous thoughts lurked among these dead branches and all the bone dust....bone *dust*.....she shuddered a little. It was far from likely that she was the first.  
  
Proving herself was only half of this, but a very important half at that. She wasn't as physically strong as the others, and was therefore automatically "weak". Oh, how the young girl hated that title. Everyone, everyone, *everyone* who ever said that, she knew she could prove wrong.  
  
Rose had thought so too.  
  
Feeling a branch softly crackle under her boot, she snapped to attention. She couldn't regain herself fast enough to jump out of the way, but *did* manage to fall on only one knee. Taking a quick look around, she noticed a skeleton posed as if trying to claw its way away from something; "Poor guy," she uttered.   
  
She stood and wiped her now powdery white hands off as fast as she could, not favoring the gritty feeling of dead, crushed life.   
  
Gracefully lifting herself out of the little cubby hole she'd created, the girl suddenly became more aware of the heavy, humid atmosphere that made it hard to breath...dust was floating about now, too, which didn't exactly help the situation. She coughed lightly once and gently touched her cheek, wincing and pulling it immediately away at the stinging. Glancing at her two fingers that had touched, she warily studied the blood that had appeared there. Nonchalantly, she rubbed her thumb over them and again brushed her hand against the side of her shorts (which were no longer the same shade of white, she then noticed).  
  
The bright-eyed beauty ignored the pain now flaring in her cheek--the wound was a bit long, but not deep at all, no scar to fear--and kneeled down, fishing for the wrinkled piece of paper in her shoe. She'd been walking for, as far as she could tell, almost half the day. The sun was starting to set, from what she could guess anyway; even in the early afternoon, only a few streaks of light could be seen throughout the entire forest. Now that darkness was closer, she could see it would be even harder to walk, let alone see, which was why she needed to look at the note one more time before all light faded completely away.  
  
She caught the edge, pulled it out, and smoothed it over her thigh. She brushed her hand across her chin and lower cheek to wipe away the blood that threatened to fall, and before she read, recalled what the former darkness dragoon had said on the Queen Fury....  
  
She'd climbed to the crow's nest to be alone, but had found Rose there already. Figuring the mysterious woman would want to be left alone, the opposite woman had said nothing and started back down, but froze when she heard the deep, calm voice.  
  
"Leaving so soon? Oh, but you just got here!" There was really no tone to it, just a blunt statement; if anything, sarcasm.  
  
The newcomer blinked and almost shyly stepped up onto the creaky boards. "I didn't think you'd want me here...I mean, no offense, but you just seem sorta like...you don't really wanna be near me or something." She bit her lip, not knowing why she'd voiced it. The beautiful warrior somehow made her nervous and small, not to mention jealous at the same time. Shana hated that about herself sometimes, how senseless she could be.  
  
"I don't see how that could be offensive, so none taken." Rose snorted a breath of something that could, possibly, be called laughter. "I've actually been wanting to talk to you. Care to?"  
  
"Oh, umm, okay, I guess, yeah." Shana smiled weakly and stepped past the raven haired woman, lightly leaning on the wooden border and taking solace from the caressing sea breeze.  
  
Rose quirked up one eyebrow and sighed, then stood next to the slight young girl. "I don't see why you're so tense around me. I'm just like you, in some ways." She sighed again. "If it's strength that bothers you, don't worry; any that I have has taken *years* to get, and you have the same potential. If not physically, then mentally; you're too hard on yourself."  
  
Shana blinked, taken by surprise. "But how-"  
  
"Do I know how you feel? I was quite a bit like you once, and I think I know what you can do....which is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."  
  
Shana had nodded and lifted her head. "My power, you mean?"  
  
"No, not that. I don't care what Dart or anyone else tells you; I honestly think that your 'power', as you like to call it, isn't the only special thing about you. Here, take this." Rose slipped out a piece of folded, browning paper and held it in front of her. "You can't open it until the magic lets you. When you have a sense of who you are. One thing, though; I ask you not to use it for me. I think I've had my share."  
  
Shana had no idea what that had meant up until now, as she read the letter. "Why are you telling me this? What's it for?"  
  
"You needed to know." What she said next Shana never forgot. "I have enough faith in you to know that you're strong enough."  
  
Rose knew she wasn't weak. *Rose*, the strongest, prettiest, most mysterious woman she'd ever known knew that Shana could do, basically, almost anything she herself could.  
  
And Shana, being so glad for that, had thrown her arms around Rose's neck and said one thing: "Thank you."  
  
Rose patted her back, awkwardly, and shook her head as Shana started back toward the latter. Silly, but it had, for some odd reason, almost made Rose smile.  
  
Shana sometimes missed how to-the-point and bold the woman had been, and sometimes wished it of herself. She felt bad, though... Rose had known she was going to die. She left them all one thing to remember her by, though Shana supposed her legacy would forever stay fresh in theirs minds; a single note to the weakest link. A single note that could change all their lives forever.  
  
She then remembered trying to open it later that night, and the folds wouldn't lift. She'd tried quite a few times after that, all without success. Then, finally, a year and a half later with Shana nearing twenty years of age, it had opened for her.  
  
And she'd never been more excited.  
  
A small bird flitted right in front of Shana's face, snapping her back into reality a second time. She blinked once, and smiled at herself for getting lost in memories so easily. It was about Rose, though, and memories of the dead always seemed to be more desperate for a captor. She never really minded, though. Her cheek had gone numb, and she touched it again, then brought her fingers back....bleeding, still. Good.  
  
She ran her palm over the crumpled piece of paper again, then began to read;  
  
~Shana. You're reading this now. I'm proud of you; you finally know yourself. That took me 11,000 years, and I doubt you're that old now, for more reasons than one. Still young, I think, if I know you well enough. This following knowledge can be wonderful, but it will, I guarantee, bring pain. That won't stop you, though, will it? No, I think not.  
  
This knowledge presents to you the power of bringing back a dear friend.  
  
They're dead, you must realize. They'll come back just as you remember them. What you need to understand is, though, that the cost is a life for a life.  
  
Most commonly it is the life of the enchanter, a rather cruel joke played by the gods of life and death so that the person who needed so much to see the resurrected cannot really see them at all....and the dead know this rule very well.  
  
I doubt that will stop you either.  
  
Besides, sometimes you don't even *know* who dies. It could be someone else in the world you don't even know exists. Don't just assume this will be your case - it might, but just be careful.  
  
This spell must be performed in a certain cave, and enclosed are the directions. They're vague, I warn you, and you may get lost, but follow the essence and you'll be fine.  
  
The essence is, unfortunately, a deadly one. It floats like a stench from the guardian of the cave--it is called Mesiico. You'll need to kill it to get in. Many people have tried, and failed...as I'm sure you'll notice.  
  
Godspeed, Shana, and meaning to your life.~  
  
Shana looked up from her note and squinted in the dust. She could now vaguely see the shape of something violently tearing into its dinner. For some odd reason, it reminded her of Dart.   
  
...She had no idea of what was going on with him. They'd been in quite a few arguments lately, and she didn't know where their relationship was going, or even if they *had* one anymore. He hadn't said one nice thing to her in the past month. Meru, who Shana now had a close bond with, tried to keep her in high spirits, but it didn't always work.  
  
Albert, Haschel, Miranda, everyone was at Dart's house right that moment for a group visit, as Shana managed herself through the forest.  
  
He'd embarrassed her so badly that morning. Dart had called her weak in more ways than one, in front of everyone, saying things so harsh she'd finally slapped him across the face and ran away with tears in her eyes. She'd heard Meru yelling at Dart as she ran.  
  
And here she was now. Going to get the one person she'd always been able to find comfort in, even in the short time they knew each other. Knowing they would always be there for her... just something about it warmed up to her. Finally standing and tucking the note in her boot, she continued on without reading the rest. She knew what she had to do.  
  
And she braced herself.  
***  
A few hours later, Shana was ducking behind a dead branch, working on strategy. She was close enough to smell the sour stink of rotting blood wafting from the huge beast. She remembered the note saying something about a soft spot where Mesiico's back and neck met. Only problem was, was how to get to it. She hid her backpack of supplies required for the ritual under the base of a bent tree, and readied her bow and arrows.  
  
"I'm not helpless. I'll show you I'm not." She smirked and stood, looking hard at the monster whose back was to her. Easy shot. "I'll show you, you jerk." She found that, somehow, her desperate love for Dart was dying; he wasn't himself anymore. And so, she stepped forward quietly, and pulled an arrow.  
  
She drew the string back, stepped forward, again, again, until she was close enough.  
  
A twig snapped under her boot.  
  
Mesiico turned so suddenly and so quickly that Shana almost thought it hadn't happened at all. She was reassured when she was face-to-face with the big, long-haired thing that looked like a cross between dragon and gorilla. It roared so loud and hard it knocked her over, and her eyes widened as it rose a muddy claw bigger than Kongol.  
  
"Crud." She grunted, and tried to spin away as its paw came down on her. She almost succeeded, but screamed in agony as the claw ripped the flesh of her mid-thigh and scratched a piece of bone, splashing blood on its fur and the ground. The claw lifted again, and as she tried to get back on her feet, the paw came from the side and sent her flying into the nearest tree. Shana looked around quickly and saw bone dust flying everywhere around her, and she groped around for her bow but to no avail. Oh well, so much for that. Her vision was turning clouded and blurry, and she could just make out the brown blob in front of her. He hit hard, apparently. She was almost gone.  
  
She groaned, rolled under the gigantic dragon-monkey just as its jaws closed in on the spot she had been tossed. It roared again and backed up, but before it did completely, Shana grabbed an arrow and heaved it into Mesiico's chest, warily, because she could barely see now. Everything was out of focus, and she thought, ultimately, that she was going to die. The arrow was her last hope, soft spot or no.  
  
It broke in half.  
  
Screeching in anger, the monster backed up more and kicked her in the side, and Shana tried to crawl away. The monster brought down its claw one more time, slashing her side and bringing out a new river of blood. She screamed again, coughed as a little bit of blood choked itself out of her mouth. She swallowed and rolled on her back, chucking a Spectral Flash right into Mesiico's face. The lights started shining and thrashing all over the beast, giving Shana just enough time to cast a Healing Fog over herself. She felt strength course and weave itself back into her, and she could see the blood flow slow down considerably. She stood, and looked the monster straight in the eye as the spell finished doing its damage. Shana was mad now. This was delaying the whole thing, she now realized, and her haziness cleared. She could see fairly well again, though she was still in major pain, but she was *so* getting back at this thing. After all, it had ripped her shirt!  
  
An angry yet content expression twisted Shana's mouth into an arrogant, blood-thirsty smirk, and she tossed her head back to clear the hair from her eyes. "You wanna play?" She asked, out loud. "THEN LET'S PLAY, BASTARD!"  
  
Almost laughing as Mesiico lunged at her, she dodged and grabbed a nearby rock, and threw it, hard, into its eye. It howled in pain, pawing at the sensitive spot. Now she was pumped. Shana lurched toward what was left of the dead man the monster had been joyfully eating before she had come, and snatched the sword right out of his bloodied hand. She smiled as she could almost hear Rose say "Right. *Now* she gets cocky. Right *after* it kicks her ass."  
  
The monster lunged at Shana again, she tried jumping out of the way and almost did though it scratched her shoulder, and she brought down the sword, getting it caught in the paw. "HAH!" she scoffed, then cried out once when the sword-paw came out and tripped her, slashing her ankle. With wide eyes, she saw the other claw come down--waited for the last moment--and smashed a Smoke Bomb with her fist. She watched the monster stop, look around, and then everything was grayish white.  
  
She hopped up and glanced around frantically--she had only a minute at the most before the smoke cleared. She heard an angry snort and the bang of claws ripping up ground. It realized she wasn't there and began hopping all over, desperately searching for his kill. Shana backed up one step as a claw suddenly blazed out of the fog, and bumped into something. She looked up, and pumped her fist into the air in triumph.  
  
Shana grabbed the lowest branch of the tree, and as fast as she could hoisted herself onto the highest branch she could reach. One snapped, and she scrambled to catch a strong branch that could hold her. She scraped her hand and smashed into the trunk, causing it to rain bits of bark, but took hold of one at the last second. She poured another Healing Fog on herself and her side and hand felt somewhat better as she kicked up to another tree branch.   
  
She finally reached a branch that was a foot or two above Mesiico, and she perched herself there. Clumsily, she tried to sling her arrow bag in front of her, and they spilled out at the quick movement. There was no time to catch them, so she just let the bag drop, too. The smoke was clearing now.  
  
Again she felt that proud, giddy feeling, and tossed away her new sword that she'd pulled from a skeleton for lack of another. She glanced up and down and all around to find a slim stick, but one that was sturdy and sharp....and her eyes fell on one. She quickly snapped it off from the tree, and was delighted to see that it was shaped, somewhat, as a spear. Good sign.  
  
As the last of the smoke drifted away, she looked fiercely for the foretold "soft spot", and it was easy enough to see. It shook the most violently as the monster coughed and spat from the aftermath of the smoke. At least there was a distraction; she was going to have to take a flying leap, but it wasn't *too* far. It was going to be a lot easier if its attention wasn't dedicated to the former light dragoon. Besides, this thing had rough skin; softness was still going to be hard on a guardian as important as this. She wouldn't be surprised if the beast had some sort of armor on it. The note even said that was highly possible, a magical border formed by death and life.  
  
Shana knelt on one knee and prepared her other foot to take a powerful jump, but first shut her eyes and concentrated on the deepest depths of her soul and tried to send a sort of message. {White Silver Dragon.....I realize I no longer command you....but please, help me one last time....give me strength...show my true power...} Shana began to shake a little and her grip tightened on the stick (It was going to work!). She stood, and opened her eyes. She could feel the wind swirling around her, swishing her hair and clothes, and saw white light zapping and floating in her arms and the spear-stick. She looked down and could actually see the black void twinkling around the monster, could see any other magical fields that were there.  
  
She grinned again, bold, and stood tall, taking in the ripping wind, intense energy and white light. "I'm not weak!" She shouted, and with that, launched herself from the tree, rose the spear above her head, landed on the monster(which was rearing up and slashing about in response to the power)'s furry back, and jammed the wood into the flabby, magical piece of flesh, felt the creature scrape its claws (give or take a few) at her, and Shana whooped at she rode it down to the ground. There was a big thump, a cloud of bone dust, and it went limp. She smiled and danced in victory, and watched as all the magic sucked back up in to her. It was almost pitch black when it finished.  
  
"I did it," she whisper-sang, and smoothed back a strand of hair in content. She looked around at the blood-stained ground, trees, and decaying corpses. "I DID IT!" She yelled, and jumped down to the ground. She felt no need to go find her arrows and bow. She'd killed the monster. She *killed it*, a small, frail, young girl, after thousands of thousands of *men* had tried and failed. *She* beat the guardian, and she couldn't wait to show them.  
  
"Rose?" {Is it even possible?}  
  
Shana blinked a few times, processing the thought. She knew now that someone had been with her... she shook her head.  
  
Help or no, all she needed now was to go get who she came for. Shana briefly ran to get her backpack, and all but skipped back up to the monster. She trained her eyes on it to make sure it was, in fact, dead, and was satisfied to see that it was far past. She hastily grabbed onto its fur and climbed to the top, yanked out the stick. Having the last item she required, Shana hopped off Mesiico and started into the cave.  
  
The cave was surprisingly cold, and she shivered a bit from the shocking change of temperature. Not so energized anymore, she covered her arms and studied the scenery.  
  
There was an eerie, greenish light that seemed to echo itself around the walls. That was really the only way to partially describe the lacy ties of green, white and blue; she'd never seen anything like it. It was comforting and unnerving at the same time, and it came from the water; the cave floor was all crystally, shimmering water that gave off its own mysterious light which danced wherever it would. There were two small stones and then a larger one, a few more stones and then one almost twice the size of it. That platform was bordered on one side by a wide waterfall, which added a somewhat soothing note to the place.  
  
Shana shivered again and stumbled over to the first big rock, and realized that there were four little circles worn into it; north, east, south and west. She heard an almost chittery voice speak immediately, not around her but inside her.  
  
[Answer quick quick, hee hee, hee hee!  
I be here and here you be,  
if you wish to sing in peace,  
tell me who you've come to free!]  
  
She answered with her mind and rhyme, as Rose had instructed; {Here I stand in spite of thee, I've passed your guardian, you see. Grant my wish and set wind free, I need him back, he's dear to me.}  
  
Silence. Then:  
  
[Smart young girl who answers true,  
I'll place your wish in front of you.  
Though you know, I'm sure you do,  
Someone in this world's goan poof!]  
  
Shana nodded. "I'm aware, and willing," She whispered. "I need to do this that badly." There was a quick sucking sound, and the presence in her mind was gone.  
  
~Answer in rhyme, and then answer with your heart. The spirit will let you be.~  
  
Shana remembered that part and the next vividly. It was important that she did.  
  
She kneeled down on both knees, and roughly unzipped her pack. She pulled out four white candles, each with different colors swirled around them. The one with silver she placed south; perfect fit. She took the two shorter ones, both with painted blood red streaks, and fit them east and west. She gingerly lifted the candle marked with light green and let it fall into the north, and the cold rock eagerly accepted.  
  
She gasped as there was a blinding burst of color in the circle, and she shook her head to clear her mind. The candles lit themselves, and let off a contrasting warm glow that joined the dominant light of the cave. Her eyes sparkled as she took in the beauty of it all.  
  
Picking up the weapon she-*they*-used to defeat Mesiico, she dropped it in front of her knees and flicked her finger over the now slippery surface. {A drop of the monster's blood, everywhere but north, to prove yourself...} She recalled, and wiped her finger on the three candles to her sides and behind her. The fire moved out of her way as if to accept and respect what she'd done. {Confirmation,} Shana thought, {That I kicked major bum.}  
  
She cleaned her hand of the remaining demon blood, and touched her cheek for her own. Still wet. {And my own blood...to show what I've sacrificed for you.} She held her finger above the flame on the northern candle, again watching as the fire parted for the blood. The light grew brighter as it fell.  
  
"Okay, then...." She blinked and again reached into her bag. {Something dear to me,} she thought as she brought out a picture of her friends and propped it on the southern candle, {And something dear to you.} There was a photo of an old woman, a dear old lady that was very sweet to Shana. Tossing her bag away, she thought of what she was to do next: {Sing a sweet song, one that you and the rising spirit can both recognize and love. Sing *for* them.}  
  
Shana bent over the spear-stick and closed her eyes, hoping with all she was worth that this would work. She began with a high note, singing a song she'd heard the old woman sing, and she sang it as well as she could. Her body tingles like physical static almost, and the air grew heavy; she heard a muffled sound of water and rock moving, the land seemed to shift and ripple, but she continued to sing. A group of surreal but very beautiful voices started to join her own, as was expected. The world started to spin, even though all she could see was black. There was cold and then hot, screams and then trumpets, wet then dry, pain then pleasure, and she felt everything bunch into one, she kept singing and it all melted within each other and molded itself, and then....everything went still. She gasped out the last few notes.  
***  
He stood there. There was water and magic and everything wrapped around his body, and it melted away as fast as it came. Solid....wait....dreams....he was dead, and he was there, and he was here, and it wasn't the same. He opened his eyes. Cave...he stood still and simply stared ahead, recognizing the place at once. He tried to move, and held a hand in front of his eyes. His feet, his legs....he slapped himself. Pain? Metal...cold. Life. Life...life....life? He was alive. In the cave.  
  
Suddenly he became aware of the cold, which remained even after all the other senses had left him. He still felt a little tingly, but he could feel, smell, hear again! Hear. Of which, he could hear a small, singing, beautiful voice....singing...what? The song! It was the song! His mother's lullaby! Haunting and heavenly at the same time. But who would know it...?   
  
She sang so sweetly and the song so unnatural, he could have thought it was just flashing to another part of the afterlife. It wasn't, though. It was all too real. But who would know that song? And it stopped. The song. The...aura. Aura. That was it. The aura was strong, sweet, innocent....light....bright light....strong, firm, warm, and it was almost vengeful. He only knew one person to ever fit into that description...and she...  
  
Shana!  
  
{Wait. No,} his mind pleaded, all of the sudden...even the dead gave off the feeling of their aura, element, whatever. He knew that. She was here, he knew, but not necessarily alive. The problem was that *she was here*.  
  
She had stopped singing. He was happy at first knowing who it was, of course, then realized; the rule of life and death. Who died most often? His eyes widened. {No, not her, she can't die, not for me! Sacrifice! Sacrifice! She didn't do it, did she?! Yeah, but, maybe she just stopped because she saw me! It can always be someone else....the chances are around fifteen percent, though...man....crap....no, Shana, you didn't just *do* that!} He started to panic, and spun around, eyes wide. She lay over her knees, limp. He had no time to rejoice life after realizing what she'd done. She couldn't have, though, she knew the consequences, but there she was....limp...no....  
  
"Shana!?" He shouted, walking over to her. He stood on the edge of his platform, afraid she might actually be dead, that he wasn't over reacting. Resurrection was a very unnerving thing.  
  
She looked up. Her clothes were torn and dirty, her face smudged with dirt and a little blood, and her smile was wide and her eyes were glittering like mad...and he'd never seen anything more beautiful. She stood.  
  
".....Is it really you?" She asked, laughing nervously and smile wavering.  
  
He nodded. "Yeah. It's me....and it's you....and you're not....dead?"  
  
Shana tilted her head to the side. "I didn't die!" She said quietly, voice crackling.  
  
"You were willing to do that for me...but you're not dead, and I'm here!" He laughed. "Thank Soa!"  
  
Now that that was clear, Shana broke out of their dazed trance and skipped the stones, jumping into his arms, and they both fell over. "LAVITZ!" She yelped, "Lavi, Lavitz, YAY!" She cried, tears spilling out of her eyes now.  
  
"Shana!" Salty water was building in his own eyes, and he hugged her to him as hard as he could. He could live again!  
  
Shana sat up, still hugging Lavitz, and smiled, "I missed you," she whispered. "We all did."  
  
"I missed you guys, too! You wouldn't believe....oh, gods....Shana!" Lavitz cupped her face between his hands and held it in front of his own, as if to make sure she was actually there. She grasped his wrists and smiled slightly as he caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Thank you," he said, grinning.  
  
They again embraced, and held one another for what seemed forever.  
  
Finally standing, the two dusted themselves off, and Shana went to retrieve her supplies--and found them gone. Not really too taken aback, she shrugged and stepped outside, Lavitz close behind.  
  
She took a deep breath and began trailing back the way she came, but stopped when she noticed that Lavitz wasn't following. She turned, dismayed, and looked questioningly at the knight. "Somethin' wrong?" She asked.  
  
He blinked and shook his head, tearing his eyes away from the giant, freshly *dead* guardian, "No, nothing, just...that....you did that?" He questioned, knowing that she had or else he wouldn't be here.  
  
Shana nodded happily. "Yeah! With a little help..."  
  
"Wow," he responded, "I've never seen you spill that much blood... No offense or anything."  
  
"'Course not." She winked and whipped her head forward, continuing on like it was no big deal.  
  
Lavitz took one last look at the bloodied demon, and ran to catch up. "Nice work," he commented.  
  
"Thanks!" Shana felt something bang her shoe, and looked down to view what it was. "Oh, that's where that went," she muttered, and bent to pick up her bow. It was, amazingly, not harmed at all.  
  
The two stepped up onto the first fallen tree, and the entire process of climbing, falling, and navigating supposedly started all over again. After doing it once, Shana was pretty sure she could find her own way back. She looked forward and found that it wasn't necessary; the path was already cleared for them. Rewards were always good. Not really minding at all, she looked next to her at the newly living man and held out her hand. He smiled and took it, and they started out.  
  
Not knowing what to say at first, Lavitz seemed happy when Shana finally spoke.  
  
"I'm glad you're back." It was a lame attempt, but where was she supposed to begin?  
  
"So am I. We have so much to catch up on, I just don't know where to start...."  
  
Shana looked up at the taller man and smiled, "I can start!" She volunteered.  
  
Lavitz met her halfway. "From my death?"  
  
Shana looked like she wanted to take the comment back, and glanced away. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean...."  
  
He nudged her over playfully. "I know. So, you guys saved the world, as I've heard?"  
  
She looked up again, shocked, "How on earth did you know?!"  
  
"I wasn't separated from you guys completely! I could still see your journey, what you did. Dreams can tell a lot, even for the dead."  
  
"Oh, cool, so we talked to you in our dreams?" Shana smiled brightly, glad to know that he'd a way of being a part of it.  
  
"In a way. And Rose has, too."  
  
Shana's ears perked at that statement. She wanted to find out more about this dream thing, but she cared more about her friend than subtle communication. "You saw Rose? How is she?!"  
  
"She's as pretty and vital as ever, I'd say. She was happy, too. Settled everything, made amendments, and she had someone with her quite a bit. Tall, Wingly, and I forgot his name....heh...something with 'L', I think. He looked familiar, somehow..."  
  
"That's sweet." {Wingly "L," along with Rose....how cute...wait, ---} "Lloyd?!"  
  
"That's it!" Lavitz threw his hands in the air, grateful to get that off his mind. "How'd you know?"  
  
"Just a guess...." she breathed. {Lloyd, the man who *killed* dear Lavitz. Best not to tell...} Then, "Now, about the dream thing, did you, like, enter our dreams or something...?"  
  
"Not so much entered as shared. If you have a strong enough bond with someone, in death there is that one connection. I was with you, Albert and Dart most of the time, I think, and rarely Rose. Once, I almost reached the old man Haschel. But I'd like to meet the new members of your....well, our, I guess....little party."  
  
Shana's smiled widened, "Oh, you'll love them! You'll adore Meru, I'm sure, and Kongol and Miranda, too. And--"  
  
Lavitz chuckled a bit, "I'm sure I will. We'll meet soon enough."  
  
"Yeah.....ya know, it's so weird...." She mused.  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's just....you would think that normally I'd be asking a thousand questions about death, what it's like, and everything....now it's just like old friends catching up....it's almost...almost like you never left."  
  
"Maybe I never did, who knows? But the important thing is I'm here now, a thousand thanks to you. I only know a few details about your journey and you'll have to fill me in on the rest later, but I'm still here."  
  
"Right."  
  
"So how is everyone? Albert, Haschel, Dart? You and Dart?" He teased.  
  
Shana chuckled, "Albert is married to Emille, princess of Tiberoa. She's having a baby, too, and we're all so excited! Albert even said that he'd name it Lavitz, in honor of you." Her smile was vague but sincere at the same time, and her hands gripped into nervous fists.  
  
Lavitz didn't seem disturbed at all, and continued smiling happily. "Heh, Al is gonna be a daddy! Albert and Emille... now what'd I tell them? HAH, I just have an eye for perfect couples, I guess. And what about the others?"  
  
"Haschel is still alive and kicking, healthy as ever. He's gone into 'grandson-follows-grandpa' mode with Dart, trying to teach him martial arts and everything. Haschel is Dart's--"  
  
"I know, dreams, remember? ...And Dart? I know how you felt about him, are you two married, dating, what?"  
  
"Dart is...not himself. He's changed, and...I'm not sure I like it..." Then to the ground, "I'm not sure I even love him like that anymore." She mumbled.  
  
Lavitz touched her arm gently, suddenly concerned, "I'm sorry?"  
  
She raised her chin and tossed her hair back again, "He's fine."  
  
"Relationship goes...?"  
  
She squinted. "I'm not su--AGH!" Shana's balance wavered and she fell forward, catching herself on a nearby tree.  
  
Lavitz knelt to help her, but she held up a hand to stop him.  
  
"I'm fine, it's just a cut--"  
  
"Which one?" He inquired, worried.  
  
"Back here," She said, and pointed to her back thigh, just above her knee, "And I'm *fine*. Miranda will help me when we get back if I need it," she insisted, and stood.  
  
"All right then... Just tell me if you need help." 


End file.
